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GRANDMASTER SKADI ADC GUIDE!

33 13 96,294
7.6
by TottiGR updated November 26, 2024

Smite God: Skadi

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Skadi Build

Skills Starter Build

Notes Bluestone Pendant is an essential item for skill based damage ADCs, provides you power, mana sustain and hp sustain.

Morningstar will evolve into Transcendence.

Golden Shard it is always the best choice because will provide you of Golden Gooseberries passive so you will have a really good early push!

Notes

Bluestone Pendant is an essential item for skill based damage ADCs, provides you power, mana sustain and hp sustain.

Morningstar will evolve into Transcendence.

Golden Shard it is always the best choice because will provide you of Golden Gooseberries passive so you will have a really good early push!

Build Item Bluestone Pendant Bluestone Pendant
Build Item Morningstar Morningstar
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
3
Build Item Multi Potion Multi Potion
2
Build Item Purification Beads Purification Beads
Build Item Golden Shard Golden Shard

SKILLS full Build

Notes Bluestone Brooch gives you a lot of power and stacks damage with your main push and damage skill Suppress The Insolent.

Transcendence always build this item with skill based ADCs, it gives you power, CD and infinite mana sustain.

Jotunn's Vigor provides you of 20% CD that fits perfectly in a skill based build like this one and also of a good ammount of power and mana sustain for not much gold and the passive will provide you of physical lifesteal that will help you a lot during late game fights!

The Crusher is essential because when you are using any of your skills, the passive will give you an extra 30% damage to enemies/minions.

Heartseeker gives you penetration, good power, mana that will increase your power thanks to the Transcendence passive.

Fail-Not provides you with CD, crit chance, power and penetration, the perfect item for any ADC.

Temporal Beads provides you with immunity to cc and cooldown reduction.

Aegis of Acceleration provides you with immunity to damage that will help you peeling yourself and avoid enemies' ultimate skills or big damages.

Notes

Bluestone Brooch gives you a lot of power and stacks damage with your main push and damage skill Suppress The Insolent.

Transcendence always build this item with skill based ADCs, it gives you power, CD and infinite mana sustain.

Jotunn's Vigor provides you of 20% CD that fits perfectly in a skill based build like this one and also of a good ammount of power and mana sustain for not much gold and the passive will provide you of physical lifesteal that will help you a lot during late game fights!

The Crusher is essential because when you are using any of your skills, the passive will give you an extra 30% damage to enemies/minions.

Heartseeker gives you penetration, good power, mana that will increase your power thanks to the Transcendence passive.

Fail-Not provides you with CD, crit chance, power and penetration, the perfect item for any ADC.

Temporal Beads provides you with immunity to cc and cooldown reduction.

Aegis of Acceleration provides you with immunity to damage that will help you peeling yourself and avoid enemies' ultimate skills or big damages.

Build Item Bluestone Brooch Bluestone Brooch
Build Item Transcendence Transcendence
Build Item Jotunn's Vigor Jotunn's Vigor
Build Item Fail-Not Fail-Not
Build Item The Crusher The Crusher
Build Item Heartseeker Heartseeker
Build Item Temporal Beads Temporal Beads
Build Item Aegis of Acceleration Aegis of Acceleration

Other Items

Notes Mantle of Discord is a defensive item with cc immunity, and a really good choice against full engage set ups. You should build it instead of Fail-Not if you go for it.

Titan's Bane If you are losing hardly the game and you don't have enough gold, go for this item instead of Heartseeker. Will give you much penetration for a low cost compared to Heartseeker.

Phantom Shell is a strong option when the enemy team has an auto attack jungler like Mercury, Kali or Bakasura... instead of buying Aegis as second active (mitigations will save your life while you can use autos).

Brawler's Beat Stick in case they have bought lifesteal or have much healing gods you should always look to buy this item, ideal for power and antiheal instead of buying Jotunn's Wrath.

Soul Eater fits perfectly with skill damage gods because you will lifesteal when using skills.

Blackthorn Hammer in case you want to play passive during early game it can be the best choice for the first item instead of building Transcendence. It provides you of good power, hp and mana sustain stats!

Jotunn's Wrath provides you of 20% CD that fits perfectly in a skill based build like this one and also of a good ammount of power and mana sustain for not much gold. Later you should upgrate it to Jotunn's Vigor to get the lifesteal passive that will make a huge change during late game teamfights.

Notes

Mantle of Discord is a defensive item with cc immunity, and a really good choice against full engage set ups. You should build it instead of Fail-Not if you go for it.

Titan's Bane If you are losing hardly the game and you don't have enough gold, go for this item instead of Heartseeker. Will give you much penetration for a low cost compared to Heartseeker.

Phantom Shell is a strong option when the enemy team has an auto attack jungler like Mercury, Kali or Bakasura... instead of buying Aegis as second active (mitigations will save your life while you can use autos).

Brawler's Beat Stick in case they have bought lifesteal or have much healing gods you should always look to buy this item, ideal for power and antiheal instead of buying Jotunn's Wrath.

Soul Eater fits perfectly with skill damage gods because you will lifesteal when using skills.

Blackthorn Hammer in case you want to play passive during early game it can be the best choice for the first item instead of building Transcendence. It provides you of good power, hp and mana sustain stats!

Jotunn's Wrath provides you of 20% CD that fits perfectly in a skill based build like this one and also of a good ammount of power and mana sustain for not much gold. Later you should upgrate it to Jotunn's Vigor to get the lifesteal passive that will make a huge change during late game teamfights.

Build Item Mantle of Discord Mantle of Discord
Build Item Titan's Bane Titan's Bane
Build Item Brawler's Beat Stick Brawler's Beat Stick
Build Item Soul Eater Soul Eater
Build Item Blackthorn Hammer Blackthorn Hammer
Build Item Jotunn's Wrath Jotunn's Wrath
Build Item Phantom Shell Phantom Shell

Skadi's Skill Order

Piercing Cold

1 X Y
Piercing Cold
1 3 6 7 10

Rune Of The Hunt

2 A B
Rune Of The Hunt
4 11 14 16 18

Permafrost

3 B A
Permafrost
2 8 12 15 19

Winter's Grasp

4 Y X
Winter's Grasp
5 9 13 17 20
Piercing Cold
1 3 6 7 10

Piercing Cold

1 X
Skadi throws an icy spear forward, dealing damage to enemies and Slowing them for 3s. Kaldr's basic attacks deal double damage to targets afflicted by Piercing Cold.

Ability Type: Projectile
Damage: 90 / 140 / 190 / 240 / 290 (+80% of your Physical Power)
Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%
Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
Cooldown: 12s
Rune Of The Hunt
4 11 14 16 18

Rune Of The Hunt

2 A
Toggle: Skadi marks a target for Kaldr to hunt. While toggled on, Kaldr assumes Beast form, chasing and attacking the marked enemy. If a marked enemy dies Kaldr attacks other enemies nearby. When toggled off, Kaldr stops attacking and returns to Skadi, reverting to his Elemental form on the way. This ability can be activated at rank 0 and Kaldr gains new skills as it ranks up.

Ability Type: Pet Command
Basic Attack Damage: 50 / 50 / 57.5 / 65 / 72.5 / 80% of Skadi's
Rank 1: Kaldr gains a dash attack dealing 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110% Basic Attack Damage
Rank 3: Kaldr's kills heal him
Rank 5: Kaldr's attacks give Skadi 10% increased movement speed
Cost: None
Cooldown: 0.5s
Permafrost
2 8 12 15 19

Permafrost

3 B
Skadi freezes the ground for 5s at a target location. The icy area deals damage to enemies that touch it and continues to deal additional damage every .5s they stay on it. Gods who step on the ice are slowed and lose control of their movement while sliding across. Also, Skadi gains movement speed and Slow immunity while standing on the area and persists for 3s after it fades or she leaves.

Ability Type: Circle, Crowd Control, Damage
Initial Damage: 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+50% of your Physical Power)
Damage Per Tick: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (+5% of your Physical Power)
Movement Speed: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%
Slow: 15%
Radius: 16 / 16 / 18 / 18 / 20
Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75
Cooldown: 16s
Winter's Grasp
5 9 13 17 20

Winter's Grasp

4 Y
A snowstorm surrounds Skadi as she chooses a location for Kaldr to attack. If Kaldr is too far he will leap there.

Upon reaching the location a snowstorm also surrounds Kaldr. The initial hit of either snowstorm Roots enemies in the area and Kaldr is restored to full health. The storms persist for 4s while dealing damage to enemies every .5s.

Ability Type: Stim
Damage (Initial Hit): 45 / 85 / 125 / 165 / 205 (+35% of your Physical Power)
Damage (Per Tick): 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+10% of your Physical Power)
Root Duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2s
Radius: 20
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Cooldown: 100s

Skadi Threats

Tap each threat level to view Skadi’s threats

Max
5
Major
0
Even
0
Minor
0
Tiny
0

Skadi Synergies

Tap each synergy level to view Skadi’s synergies

Ideal
3
Strong
0
OK
0
Low
0
None
0

Introduction

Hey, this guide is brought to you by TottiGR! I started playing Smite on PC in February 2014. I have been playing competitive since 2016 and I have been a professional Smite player between March 2020 to July 2023. I have played in different teams like JustF6, Gilded Gladiators or Tartarus Titans this last year in the Smite Pro League (You can always check the SmiteVod Youtube Channel where there's my proffesional games recorded). I have peaked 3500 MMR GrandMaster/Masters in Ranked Conquest on PC plataform every season since 2017 (SEASON 4). I also made Smite Masters (LAN) 4 times in 2022 so I really think I have the knowledge in guiding about the ADC role in SMITEGAME. I hope you find this guide as a useful learning resource for playing Skadi as an ADC.


Here are my socials:

Abilities

Skadi's Abilities


Passive - Kaldr, The Winter Wolf

Skadi, much like Rama doesn't have a true passive. Instead she gets an extension of her second ability, Rune of the hunt. Kaldr works as an auto attack sponge and extra scaling for Skadi to create favorable trades.


Ability 1 - Piercing Cold

This is Skadi's main clear abilities, the hardest hitting ability and best wave clear option. This also enables Kaldr's often underwhelming damage to be more impactful. Should be noted that leveling this ability increases the strength of its slow by a good amount.


Ability 2 - Rune Of The Hunt

Rune Of The Hunt is linked to Skadi's Kaldr, the winter wolf. Kaldr's damage is very limited on it's own, but when amplified by either Piercing cold or Winter's Wrath it stacks up nicely. At max level the 10% movement speed stim provides Skadi a little more safety and chasing potential.


Ability 3 - Permafrost

Movement speed is the strongest stat in Smite. Permafrost is what brings Skadi much needed safety to make up for the crippling lack of escape tools. Enemy gods that slide into terrain/other gods/player-made walls bounce back in the opposite direction.

This gives Permafrost a really high ceiling when it comes to crowd control duration as it is not affected by diminishing returns. Use this ability to dance around backline divers.


Ultimate - Winter's Grasp

Skadi's ultimate skill, definitely is a ranged root that throws Kaldr at the location and applies damage over time on both Skadi's and Kaldr's location. The tick damage from both circles does stack, so this ability gets the most damage in close range.

At max distance the damage does tick while Kaldr is leaping at a target, missing around 2 ticks of damage. However, in practice a ranged two second root is a very useful tool even when missing out on damage.

How To Play Skadi

Gameplay Start / Early Game:
  • Start at the Gold Fury side Green buff. When it spawns, hit it with an auto attack to leash/aggro the camp and pull it towards the exp camp, meanwhile the support deals damage to the camp, after doing both things, you two will go to the purple buff, do it and then come to lane to push the minions.

  • After these camps are cleared you will be level 1 so will need to take 1 minion of the first wave to get level 2 and level up your three Permafrost so you will have an skill that can be used for escaping or for ganking the enemies duo lane while doing a lot of damage.

  • After pushing 3 wave, shield buff will spawn so your support and you will go for it depending of the pressure wave; if you have no wave pressure you will need to ask your jungler for coming to fight it or just leave it, but if you have hardly won the push of the wave you should use your attack speed shard to do it as quick as possible, for securing the buff you should always maintain your Piercing Cold available. The good part of the Piercing Cold is that it can pass through the walls so you can secure the shield buff while slowing the enemies behind the wall. Anyways, I do recommend as a hunter that if someone comes to contest, you should always try to fight them instead of securing the buff because you have a really good god for early fighting.

  • After picking it up make your way back to the centre of the lane. If you think it's going to be hardly difficult to secure the buff, just run back into the lane and pressure the enemies by pushing the wave quickly by using Piercing Cold and Permafrost.

  • As Skadi remember to play safe and place safe wards because you are a god with no dash in her set of skills and no immunity so you will be an easy kill for the enemies frontlane.

  • From here you will usually fight the enemy ADC and support during wave pushes in lane with your own support. Most of the fights you should take are around shield buff and depending on yours and their early pressure/clear around your own purple buff or theirs (remember you can pull the Purple buff wherever you want so if you have no pressure / you are low hp ask your support to be in the pit before it spawns and tell him to leash it as far as needed to not get invaded by the other duo lane)

  • This hunter has a really good fighting kit of skills so you should be always looking to fight 1vs1 the other ADC (if you are ahead). Don't try to risk your life so you can poke the enemy ADC from the distance by using Piercing Cold or Permafrost over the enemy hunter this will poke him out and easily convert him into an easy kill for your teammates. I need to clarify that if you don't wave any wards spotted on the map remember you should always take care of it. Just be confident during laning phase, your confidence will play a really good paper on succeeding, so just try it out. If you don't risk you will never achieve :p.

  • An important advice as an ADC main is to be active in communication, always try to tell all the information you can to your team like your own purple, shield and their purple timer (if possible), if there is any one spotted in the wards you placed, if someone is trying to dive you, if they are doing Gold Fury... This type of information will make your jungler and support pathing to gank your lane easier and make you having bigger chances of getting a lead over the other hunter.

  • REMEMBER to always buy wards, warding correctly with aggressive Sentry Wards will determine half of the game around the Gold Fury objective and warding defensively will make you be more aware about possible ganks so you will be safer in lane.

Mid Game:

  • As the match goes towards the mid game, other than the usual farm opportunities you'll be looking to rotate over the Stygian Beacon for your team and try attempt, contest and steal (if the enemy is attempting to kill them) the Gold Fury.

  • Remember to rotate when there is no duo jungle remain like purple or shield buff and to have the wave pushed before rotating because you will fall much behind in farm compared to your enemy ADC. (DO NOT ROTATE IF YOU ARE 2 OR MORE LEVELS BEHIND THE OTHER HUNTER!)

  • When the Beacon spawns often both teams will try rotate over to control it, especially the mid, support and jungle. You will need to think about who is more likely to have their teammates to rotate over first to impact your decision if contesting the beacon will be worth it and if there is any kill potential around the objective.

  • As for Gold Fury opportunity they will vary on factors such as: your team's overall objective shred, your ADC's current objective shred / build, your team's map pressure, how strong each team's teamfight is, where on the map everyone is (i.e. if one team is doing Gold, the other may decide to do Pyro as a smaller trade), if any members of the enemy team are on a respawn timer, etc...

  • It is so important to have warded (with Sentry Wards if possible) the Gold Fury during the Mid Game because it is the principal objective between minute 10 to 20 with the Pyromancer.

  • Stay aware of rotations (jungle and support) during this minutes because your death as ADC will be a really good factor over pulling Gold Fury or even burst it. So your team won't have any chance of contest.

  • Not dying over rotations, map awareness and warding are highly important over the games. You will always need to position yourself beside de midlaner for peeling each other over team fights (call who is doing engage on you, relics and this type of stuff that is going to make an easier way to make your team win the team fight)


Late Game:
  • As for late game teamfights, most often you will be positioned in the "backline" (behind your team's solo and support - who generally are the "frontline") and will play around your midlaner to deal with the enemy frontline and jungler, while making sure to put out as much damage as possible to the highest threats on the enemy team.

  • Make sure you have upgraded Temporal Beads and Aegis of Judgement before going into the Fire Giant. I really good advice is to use actives as soon as the solo laner, support or jungler engages on you to try to avoid as much damage and crowd control as possible, if you stay safe as an ADC on a late game teamfight, your team will have enough DPS to do Fire Giant or if you kill all your enemies, you can even finish the game.

  • When it comes to Fire Giant opportunities, often there can be stalemates where both teams will try to force a teamfight or look for lone picks in order to gain an advantage, sometimes involving one team going for a non fully committing attempt at doing the objective to bait the other team to step up.

  • BE CONSTANTLY CALLING ALL THE INFORMATION: WHEN THEY ARE ENGAGING ON YOU, BE ALWAYS SURE ABOUT YOUR DECISION MAKING, IF YOU DOUBT YOURSELF OR EVEN YOUR TEAMMATES YOU WILL NEVER SUCCED!

How To Ward As ADC

Low Pressure Warding:

Here are warding spots for ADCs if you are behind with gold or experience compared to the other hunter. If the enemy team has your purple timer you should always try to Sentry Wards your purple buff and make sure to call your teammates at least 1 minute before spawning.


In case you have low pressure god but none is invading purple you can also ward like in the photo below. You will always know when someone is coming and you won't have to outposition yourself to ward so you will be safe.


Normal Pressure Warding:

Over here is shown the ideal normal pressure warding spots around duo lane, you should always look to Sentry Wards defensively and use a normal ward on the offensive position. Enemies could Sentry Wards your normal ward so you should call your support for warding there.


High Pressure Warding:

In case you have a high pressure duo set up (hunter with good clear and fighting capability and a support with crowd control, push and mobility) you should look to invade purple buffs. This type of wards will make an easier way for you and your teammates to come over purple pit before spawning and being ready for stealing it [you will always know who is coming to gank you so you must be prepared for getting ganked over duo] .


Late Game Warding:

When you start fighting around Fire Giant, you should always look to ward in the same places as a midlaner because you two (ADC and Mid) form what we call as "backliners" (the roles who are supposed to deal DPS and damage to enemies), you will be sharing the responsibility for this rather than handling it alone, especially when it's not safe for you to step up to place deeper wards. Any wards placed closer to the objective within the Fire Giant pit tend to get destroyed by Sentries more often than not, so they tend to not be reliable.

Remember, minions act as moving wards in the lanes, and are able to spot nearby gods. If your towers are down, keep your minions pushed up as much as possible to provide an extra set of eyes and pressure.


  • White Circles: These are all offensive locations that allow you to spot enemies near to or approaching objectives, and are helpful in covering multiple approaches. The closer you get to the Fire Giant, the more contested those spots will be and the more likely enemies will try to counter-ward. The ones closest to the enemy base can give you very early notice.

  • Red Circles: Fairly obvious, but it's always good to have vision on the main jungle objectives, especially the Fire Giant. Sentry Wards are key here, as they allow you to spot and remove enemy wards. You can place wards directly on top of the objectives, or put them slightly to one side to try to spot enemy wards or protect yours from being detected.
Counter-Warding: Enemies may drop wards on your defensive side in similar (opposite) spots to where you would place yours. If the Fire Giant is already covered and you have a spare Sentry Ward, place them in these spots to limit the enemy's vision on your team.

Defensive Warding: If you're pushed back to your phoenixes or inside your base, locate your wards in the nearby jungle and general approaches.

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